Editing Michael Townley (section)

==Involvement with the CIA and Move to Chile==
Townley’s formed a relationship with the CIA. He testified that in 1970, before returning to Chile, he contacted the CIA to offer his services. However, a 1978 declaration by former CIA Security Director [[Robert Gambino]], cited in Spartacus Educational, states Townley was a CIA informant from November 25, 1970, to December 21, 1971, though the agency’s interest ceased thereafter. Contradictory claims by DINA agent [[Jorge Patricio Villalobos Bolt]] and others assert Townley was a CIA agent during his later crimes.

In 1970, Townley and Callejas returned to Chile, where he became involved in anti-government activities against President Salvador Allende. He ran a clandestine radio station broadcasting anti-Allende propaganda and worked with violent opposition groups like Patria y Libertad. Fleeing Chile before the September 11, 1973, coup that overthrew Allende, Townley returned post-coup and was recruited by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), Chile’s secret police under Augusto Pinochet. It is speculated that he did so on behalf of the CIA.